Travellers arriving in Rome are facing queues nearly three times longer than before the EU’s new digital border system was introduced — and even after improvements, a boss at the city’s main airport says the delays are here to stay.
The Entry Exit System (EES), which requires non-EU citizens entering the Schengen zone to register fingerprints and a photo, has been phased in at airports since October. At Rome’s Fiumicino airport, the self-service kiosks — which cost €12m (£10.2m) — have proved impractical for large numbers of passengers, forcing many to wait for hours.
“EU border system nearly triples passport waiting times for Brits at Rome airport”
“It was two hours queuing, from getting off the plane to getting through with children,” said Carl, who travelled from Yorkshire with his family. “I knew it was going to be bad, but not as bad as that.”
David, visiting from the US with his wife Marlo, said the queue took about an hour. “We actually missed our car, our driver.”
The new system, which checks fingerprints and photos both on entry and exit, has caused disruption at other European airports too. Border police at Portugal’s Faro airport admitted the technology suffered from bugs, but insisted queues there would go down quickly. Ryanair this week warned UK passengers to “allow extra time for their journey and be prepared for extended waits at passport control”, calling the rollout “failed”.
At Barcelona airport, Barry from Bracknell said passport control took 45-50 minutes because some machines weren’t working. His friend Sarah, who arrived on a different flight, said the queue took nearly as long as the flight itself: “The queue was huge, nearly an hour… it was just slow.”
The European Commission has said disruption is limited at most EU airports and pledged to continue supporting member states in implementing the system. But with Britons among those now required to register fingerprints and photos, the summer travel season is set to test the system further.
The question is whether the kiosks can ever cope — or whether long queues become the new normal for UK holidaymakers.